1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable mobile unit, with which inputting of letters or characters is conducted by using input-keys, and in particular to a portable mobile unit, being suitable for easiness of Japanese language input, when using the numeral-keys as the input keys thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
Input and output function of a portable telephone apparatus, as a representative example of the portable mobile unit, becomes more and more important when the Internet function is added to the portable telephone apparatus. However, a method for inputting Japanese language cannot be said to be easy to handle. With a means for inputting Japanese language, a standard method is determined relating to a Japanese language word processor apparatus (including a personal computer installing a software of Japanese language word processor therein) (hereinafter, called by “word processor”), and many peoples are familiar with that process and come to have a skill of inputting it at high speed. In the word processor, the functions are distributed to a hundred (100), more or less, of the key switches, however in the portable telephone apparatus and/or the portable codeless telephone apparatus, since the apparatus itself is small in the sizes, there are provided only around twenty (20) of the key switches. Therefore, in the portable telephone apparatus, the functions of several keys of the word processor must assigned to one key thereof, and has a problem that it requires a troublesome operation for inputting the Japanese language therewith.
In a user's manual of the portable telephone apparatus, there are described three methods, i.e., (1) dial-cursor input, (2) dial-key input, and (3) letter or character code input, as representative ones thereof. The (1) dial-cursor input is a method, wherein letters or characters are selected by means of the cursor among the letters indicated on a display, and also an adjustment, such as a sonant mark, etc., is made by selecting the content shown in other part of the display through the cursor, thereby selecting. This method has an advantage that it can be easily understood, since the operation can be carried out while being visually ascertained the contents thereof and there is no other matters to remember further if it is learned once. The (2) dial-key input is a method, wherein the each key is pushed down repeatedly until the letter assigned to it appears, and it is a basic input method for the portable telephone apparatus. This method is common with for all kinds of machines and is applicable in almost all modes thereof since the input can be conducted by means of the dial keys. However, as the input method of the letters or characters, it has a drawback by itself that key operations comes to be large in number thereof, on an average. The (3) letter code input is a method, wherein a letter code of two (2) digits is inputted after selecting the kind of the input, such as kana (the Japanese syllabary) or English and numeral letter, and this is widely used in a pager, etc. It has a drawback that the letter codes must be memorized in advance, and so on.
An example other than the above is described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. Hei 11-15584 (1999), wherein twelve (12) pieces of dial keys of the telephone apparatus are classified into separate keys, each being used at high frequency and assigned with a separate alphabet thereto, and code keys, with which an alphabet is determined by pushing down a plural number of keys thereof, and alphabets are inputted by combining those keys, so that a sentence inputted is converted into Japanese.
Among those above-mentioned conventional arts from (1) to (3), the (2) and (3) are desired to be installed into the apparatus as the common technologies shared with the other kinds of machines, and as a new technology in the place of the (1) or in addition thereto, it is an object to make the input of Japanese language easy much more. For achieving this object, as was mentioned in the above, such a method is preferable, having as many aspects as possible in common with the input methods, which are practiced widely in the word processor, etc. From this viewpoint, it is an object to realize an input method of alphabetic letters or character, which can be used widely as the Japanese language input method and also can be done with using letters (i.e., keys) as small as possible in the number, however with changes therein as small as possible. For such the implicit object of this, there is a necessity of making the number of key operations necessary for inputting a consonant be only two (2) times or less than that. In addition to fulfilling such the object mentioned above, it is also important object to provide the input method, in which the input of a mark being generally used, as well as, exchange of the letters, can be performed with a simple and common method.